US talks tough on Iran, but will stick to present deal for now

Tillerson required by law to report regularly to Congress on Tehran’s adherence to the deal, had affirmed that Iran is keeping to the pact curbing its nuclear program. On Wednesday, however, he detailed Iran’s “alarming and ongoing provocations that export terror and violence, destabilizing more than one country at a time,” and said that if Iran goes unchecked, it “has the potential to travel the same path as North Korea.”

This was the latest in a drumbeat of warnings from the Trump administration that it is set to crack down on Iran and might reconsider the nuclear deal reached between the US, EU partners, Russia and China. But despite the rhetoric, diplomats and analysts say they don’t expect the administration to walk away from the deal, which aims to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.